Gloves (To Keep You Warm)
by Shiro Usagi-tan
Summary: Everyone participates in Secret Santa and Naegi draws out Kirigiri's name, but he has no idea what to get for her and whether or not she would like what he's going to give her. Naegi/Kirigiri; more Christmas stuffs.


**Author's note:** I'm so glad I finally wrote something for this pairing. Naegi/Kirigiri is my ultimate OTP in DR and they're just so perfect together hhhh. Such cute dorks. More Christmas shit ahead.

* * *

"Secret Santa?" Naegi blinked at his friends. He sat at the end of the table. It was two days before Christmas and Naegi had been asked to meet the others in the cafeteria.

"Yes, Secret Santa!" Ishimaru repeated. He was the one who proposed the idea…well, not really. It was more like Asahina proposed the idea without thinking and Ishimaru decided to go with it since it sounded like a wonderful idea to him. "I believe with Secret Santa, we are all able to deepen our bonds."

"As usual, you're all still playing some commoner's game." Togami scoffed, crossing his arms. "Just how old do you think you are?"

"U-um, well…to be honest, Secret Santa can be played by people of any ages…it doesn't matter whether you're young or old." Fujisaki stated meekly. Togami sent him a glare and Fujisaki let out a croaked cry in response.

"How does this game work anyway?" Kirigiri asked. She sat coolly in her seat with her legs crossed and her hands on the table. Her face wore a stoic expression as usual.

"Hm, I believe it goes like this! We all must write our names down on a piece of paper and put it in a box. Then each of us picks one from the box, and we must all buy presents for whoever's name we picked!" Ishimaru explained. "I believe you must also not let anyone know whose name you picked until you gave the person their present."

"That sounds kinda fun." Kuwata beamed excitedly. "I actually played it once when I was small with 'ma mom and dad. It would be great to play it again, ya know?" He placed both his hands behind his head and grinned. "I'm hopin' I getta pick someone nice so we can hang out after the present exchange thingy!"

Togami let out a soft 'hmph'. "That's petty. I refuse to participate in such a foolish game like this."

"I do think it's a good idea though." Kirigiri spoke and everyone turned to stare at him. "Like Ishimaru-kun said, it could deepen our bonds." She looked in Togami's way and smirked at him. "You will participate, right Togami-kun? The last time I heard the heir of the Togami Conglomerate never backs down from anything."

Togami looked very irritated at this point. He glared at Kirigiri and bit his own tongue. "Your nonsensical talk is amusing me." He rolled his eyes and looked away, saying in a tone no less than a whisper. "Only this once." Kirigiri felt victorious at this.

"Very well, we shall now commence the activity! Everyone, please write down your names on a piece of paper." Ishimaru clapped his hands, signaling them to get to work. Everyone did as what they were told and scribbled their names on a small piece of paper. Then they all threw them into a small box Ishimaru had prepared.

Once everyone put their names into the box, they all took turns to pick out a paper. Faces of delight and faces of disappointment were formed on their faces. It was obvious some of them had someone in mind.

Naegi picked out a piece of paper from the box and unfolded it. _'Kyouko Kirigiri'_ was all that was written on the paper. He gulped and secretly glanced at Kirigiri, who was inspecting the paper she had picked.

_'So I have to give something to Kirigiri-san, huh…' _He thought to himself, but what should he get for her? He and Kirigiri were very good friends, but Naegi had no idea what her interests were. She rarely talked about herself. Most of the time, they conversed about their class schedule and such.

That night, Naegi paced up and down inside his own room. There was only two days left before Christmas and Naegi had to get something for Kirigiri before then, but what? He thought of maybe a simple necklace or a t-shirt, but he was also accompanied by the worry that Kirigiri might not like what he presents her.

_'Come on. Think, Naegi Makoto, think!'_ His inner voice yelled internally.

Then something hit him. Kirigiri always wear a pair of gloves to wherever she goes no matter if it's hot or cold. Would she perhaps fancy a new pair of gloves? Naegi asked himself that question. Maybe she would, maybe she would not. And what kind of gloves should he get her anyway?

Naegi thought about it for a while. Should he get her silky gloves? Rubber gloves? Maybe a pair of pink ones? Does Kirigiri-san even like the colour pink actually? Those thoughts circled around his head like a Merry-Go-Round. He felt his head going dizzy, and then he remembered last time Kirigiri told him something – her hands were burned very badly and that was why she wore gloves to everywhere she went.

"That's it!" Naegi snapped his fingers. He grabbed his brown coat and wrapped a green scarf around his neck before he grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, heading out after shutting the door.

* * *

It was December 25th and it was snowing outside. The students of Hope's Peak had a day off as it was Christmas. Naegi woke up early to wrap his present. He had gotten Kirigiri a pair of thick gloves in the colour of pure white. He placed the item slowly into a small boxed and wrapped the box in lime green, accompanied by a pink ribbon to finish the touching.

He exited the dorm and made his way towards the cafeteria. Everybody had agreed to meet up in the cafeteria again on Christmas to do the Secret Santa exchanging. The moment he stepped into the cafeteria, the first thing he spotted was Ishimaru giving Mondo a present. _'So Ishimaru-kun got Oowada-kun…'_ Naegi thought to himself. He looked around the place, trying to look for a certain purple-haired girl, but she was nowhere in sight. Just then, Fujisaki entered the cafeteria after him.

"Fujisaki-san!" Naegi called out and Fujisaki stopped in his tracks to wave at the brunette.

"Naegi-kun." Fujisaki smiled at him. He was holding a present himself. Naegi wondered who it was for. "Are you r-ready for the present exchange?" He looked around nervously as he fidgeted with the present he was holding. "I'm…I'm worried the person wouldn't like it."

"I'm sure that won't be the case, Fujisaki-kun." Naegi said, trying to comfort him. "If you picked the present by heart just for someone, it wouldn't be worth to not accept it."

"D-do you think so?" A smile formed on Fujisaki's face as Naegi nodded in confirmation. "Thank you so much, Naegi-kun! Ah…I better get going though…I'll see you later, Naegi-kun." The shorter one waved as he walked quickly to one of the tables.

While everybody was busy exchanging their Secret Santa presents, Naegi just stood there alone. Kirigiri was nowhere in sight. He remembered what he told Fujisaki.

_"If you picked the present by heart just for someone, it wouldn't be worth to not accept it."_

"Well, I did choose my present carefully…but I can't be sure Kirigiri-san would like it." He mumbled to himself and sighed. He looked down at the present he was holding. He remembered asking Kirigiri about her hands last time, but Kirigiri simply told him "it was personal" and said nothing more. If it turned out to be triggering, then Naegi imagined she would have a hard time liking what he was going to give her.

He decided to just go along with it anyway. It was too early to make any assumptions! Naegi decided to wait for Kirigiri to arrive. Half an hour passed and everybody had finished exchanged their Secret Santa presents, yet Kirigiri was still nowhere to be found.

"Kirigiri-san is running unbelievably late!" Ishimaru said.

"Ah, if you're looking for Kirigiri-san, she's resting in her own room." Celestia spoke. She laced both her fingers together. "She informed me this morning she wasn't feeling well."

"Kirigiri-san is sick?" Naegi widened his eyes. Was she going to miss out of this once-in-a-year activity? He was still holding the present he had yet to give her. He contemplated about not giving her anyway, but in the end decided he would go along with it. "Give me a moment. I'm going to go visit Kirigiri-san."

Naegi ran out of the room and and made his way down the corridors once again. He didn't stop running until he reached his destination – Kirigiri's room. He was out of breath by then and leaned against the wall nearby for support as he tried to catch his own breath. Once his breathing and heartbeat were steady again, he braced himself and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice called out and Naegi immediately recognized it to be Kirigiri's, but she sounded so…tired.

"It's Naegi. I heard from Celes-san you were feeling unwell."

He stood there and it took a few moments before the door was opened. Naegi came face to face with Kirigiri, who was looking paler than usual. She had slight dark circles under her eyes, though they weren't so obvious. She seemed really sick.

"Ah Naegi-kun, is there something you need?" She barely whispered. Her eyes scanned the surroundings before it trailed back to Naegi, and then she noticed the present he was holding. "Oh, is this…"

"Ah. Um, this is for you, Kirigiri-san, for the Secret Santa." Naegi extended his hands and handed her the present. Kirigiri seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before she accepted it. "Sorry, I need to give you this somehow." The short boy gave out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his head. "I drew out your name from the box so…"

Kirigiri stare at the present given to her with widened eyes. "…may I open it?" She asked and Naegi gulped. He remembered what he thought about earlier, but braved up and slowly nodded at her. Kirigiri nodded back and began to tear off the present wrapper. She took off the cover to reveal a pair of thick gloves placed neatly within the box.

She had been silent for about two minutes now. Sweat trickled down Naegi's forehead as his head came up with more than twenty assumptions. _'Does she dislike it? Maybe this was a bad idea after all…'_ He thought to himself. The silence was unnerving so he decided to try and speak.

"Um, Ki—"

"You got me this?"

"Ah? Yeah, I did. I didn't know what to get you." Naegi explained. "Then I remembered that you always wear gloves so I decided to get you one you can wear for the rest of the winter. It's thick so I'm sure it would be enough to keep you warm. Ahaha…" He laughed awkwardly and Kirigiri looked at him with her usual stoic expression. "I'm…sorry if you don't like it."

"Wait here." That was all Kirigiri said in response as she closed the door. Sounds of closets being opened and things getting thrown to the floor could be heard from the outside. Naegi just stood there, feeling nervous. A few moments later, the door opened and Kirigiri was holding a present as well.

"Kirigiri-san?"

"This is for you, Naegi-kun." She handed him the present and Naegi took it, feeling rather confused.

"But does that mean—"

"It appears we both picked each other's names during that time." Kirigiri smiled faintly at him. "Yes, I picked your name."

Naegi felt surprised. That was definitely one hell of a coincidence. He looked down at the present he was given. It was smaller in size than what he gave Kirigiri, but his mind didn't complain. "Can I open it…?" Kirigiri nodded and the short boy proceeded to undo the wrappings and everything, revealing a piece of yellow scarf inside. The scarf was rather…messy for some reason, Naegi had to admit to himself.

"I'm sorry, I know it doesn't look very good, but I hope you will accept it nonetheless." Kirigiri covered her mouth and coughed into her hands before clearing her throat and continuing. "I actually knitted it by myself. Oogami-san taught me how to." Her skin was very pale due to her sickness, thus making the very light blush spreading across her pale cheeks very obvious.

"No, no, it's alright! It's a nice scarf anyway."

Kirigiri nodded. "Merry Christmas, Naegi-kun." She smiled at him, though she still looked sick. Naegi nodded back and grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Kirigiri-san!"

* * *

A few days later, Naegi woke up rather early and got himself dressed-up for class. He was shivering really badly. _'Remind me to not take cold showers during winter.'_ He reprimanded himself and tried to look for something to wear to keep himself warm for class later. Then he remembered the scarf Kirigiri gave him during Christmas.

"Oh right, the scarf." He decided to make use of the opportunity and wear the scarf Kirigiri presented him to class.

When he reached his classroom, he found that Kirigiri had already arrived. She was reading a small book, and it was then Naegi noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual black gloves. Instead, she was wearing the gloves Naegi got for her.

Naegi stood at the doorway fiddling with the scarf, pulling it higher to hide the smile on his face.


End file.
